When Two Worlds Fall in Love
by softlove91
Summary: [On Hold]Hermione had grown up. She was the same, but there were sparkles in her eyes now. Draco had matured, he was over the pureblood mania. However there are always others that don't get over that. Does true love really conquer all? R
1. Chapter 1

**When Two Worlds Fall in Love**

Chapter 1 – _Meeting Once Again_

Hermione was working in the shop with her best friend, Felicity Spencer. The day was finally over, but it wasn't that she didn't like her job, it was just that she was aching to go home and play with her new-born cousin. However, the ending of the day fantasy finished, when yet another customer walked into the shop. It was Draco Malfoy.

Hermione stopped, gaping at this person. Draco Malfoy? She recognised his hair, his eyes, the way he walked, his strut, his smirk and most of all, the presence he gave when he walked into anywhere. She hadn't seen him since Hogwarts, which was three years ago, a long time.

In fact, she hadn't seen many people from there. The war was at long last over, and Ron had died. She hadn't really felt any sadness; she was just numb about it. It wasn't like she had loved him, so only the numbness of a friendship broken in her heart had stabbed at her. It still was numb, and it would always have that numb part for Ron. However, Harry had survived and Voldemort was finally defeated.

Unfortunately that did not mean evil was over. There still were his faithful deatheaters roaming the street. The ministry of magic was an inefficient as ever, unable to catch even a third of them. Everyday was a threat, which was why Hermione wanted to live life to the fullest, as every day was a chance of her dying. The fact that her blood wasn't pure only added to the threat.

Draco hadn't yet seen Hermione, he was too busy immersed in the contents of the shop. There were robes of all kind, from expensive designer brands to not as expensive brands. As always, Draco skipped the not as expensive robes, and went straight to the pricey end, looking over each robe.

In Draco's mind, he knew all about the deatheaters. He wasn't one, and he wasn't planning on being one. It wasn't because he was a Malfoy and he thought that Malfoys shouldn't work for another person higher, it wasn't because he hated evil, it was because he couldn't be bothered. Lucius didn't particularly care, as he was intending to become the new 'dark lord' and thought Draco could be a threat to him, so there was absolutely no pressure there.

Draco actually wasn't particularly racist anymore. He definitely still thought that purebloods should have more right then halfbloods or mudbloods, but he didn't sneer at them, or look down his nose at them anymore. There really wasn't a reason why, but from a perspective, from someone who was observing him, they could have thought that Draco Malfoy had finally "grown up".

Draco had chosen two garments, and was walking up to the counter, still not registering Hermione's face, as his head was looking at his pocket as he fumbled for his wallet. Hermione decided to act professional and put on her best welcoming voice.

"Hello, I hope you like this shop and will come back next time. Is this all?" she asked in forced politeness, unknown to the fact that Draco had grown up.

Draco looked up in surprise. "Hermione!" he exclaimed.

"Yes? Hello Malfoy." She said civilly, her voice still filled with an amount of coolness.

"Please call me Draco," he said hurriedly, "I'm over the crap of, you know…"

"No I don't," she said politely, "But could you please pass me your choices?"

"Sure," he said, passing them over. As he watched Hermione zap them, he forced conversation. "I'm sorry about Weasley."

"Yeah," she muttered, "Thanks."

"I know you were sort of…together." He said uncomfortably, nervously darting his eyes.

"No," laughed Hermione, her laughter tinkling through the shop, "We definitely were not together, just close friends."

"Oh," he said, his face flushing in embarrassment. "Still, my condolences."

"Thank you." She said quietly, her face hiding behind a lock of hair. It was the first time Draco actually got to see Hermione's face. She still resembled herself, back in the Hogwarts years, her hair as bushy as ever, but she had somehow managed to chuck it into a ponytail, with random wisps of hair in her face. Her brown eyebrows had finally been waxed, and her deep brown eyes stood out, beautiful as ever.

Draco had always thought Hermione was reasonable, he just didn't take notice. He was too busy in his duties as Head Boy and getting rid of stalkers. Plus, there was the whole deal with his father. Lucius was very versatile, one day saying that Draco needed to sneer at mudbloods, and the next day cursing because there were no smart, talented purebloods out there that would have been suitable for Draco.

Draco decided he actually wanted to get to know Hermione better. "Do you want to have something to drink sometime? Perhaps at Madame Puddifoots?"

Hermione look up in surprise, almost dropping Draco's robes. Draco Malfoy wanted to drink something with her! "Are you sure I won't get any germs on you?" she asked, half joking, half being serious.

At once, Draco's eyes clouded over. "Yes I'm sure. Look, I'm sorry about those times, I'd just like you to know that I don't care about that anymore."

"About what?" Hermione asked, looking him straight in the eye.

"About you know…blood."

"Oh," she said amusedly, "Neither do I."

"Huh?"

Hermione laughed, clearly finding the conversation amusing. "How does tomorrow night sound?"

"It sounds great." Draco's lips curled up slightly. Hermione had never seen Draco fully smile, only sneer, smirk and what he was doing now. Half smile.

As he walked back out of the shop, with his purchases in his hands, Felicity's eyes travelled his silhouette until he had finally disappeared.

"Who was that?"

Felicity had only just moved to England a few months ago from Australia. She had needed a place to stay, and Hermione had generously offered. They were now flatmates, and best friends.

Hermione made a slight noise. "A guy from Hogwarts."

"Lucky you." She whistled, "There are really hot guys in Australia, but that's one in a million."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "He's only human. Plus, he was the biggest ass at school. He'd tease me every day."

"Why? What about?" Flick asked, her eyes now fastened on Hermione.

"Blood."

Felicity laughed, "Really? What an idiot."

"But he's changed now." Hermione said thoughtfully, "I don't know what's made me say that, but I have this feeling…"

"Aaah, the sixth sense." Winked Felicity, "Come on, we better close up. And I can't wait to meet your adorable cousin!"

"Me neither." Hermione agreed, and the two girls packed up, and left the shop.

88888

At Malfoy Manor, Draco had just entered the house. Going straight up to his room, he plonked his belongings on his bed. He sighed, laying his head back, just about to close his eyes – when all of a sudden; an owl flew through his bedroom window.

Groaning at the interruption, he went up to get the letter, but recognised the owl immediately. Giving it an affectionate pat and smiling, he read the letter.

_Draco,_

_Long time no talk! Why don't we have dinner tonight? I'll pay. Normal place, normal time. I've got something important to discuss with you. We really need to catch up. Hope something interesting has happened in your life, and you haven't followed your father's foolish footsteps._

_Lots of love, _

_Pansy_

Draco read the letter, and immediately found his quill to reply.

_Pansy, _

_I agree, we should meet up more often. I'm sorry, but I have little time. No, nothing totally interesting has happened in my life, but I met a girl from Hogwarts this afternoon, you'd never guess who. I haven't followed in father's footsteps, I like to have my own life, not follow someone like a lost krup. What's the important news? _

_I'll see you at the normal time, _

_Draco._

Draco smiled to himself, as he remembered Pansy. It had been a couple of months since he had last heard from her. Frowning a little, as he remembered her writing about needing to discuss something important, he wondered what it could be possibly. However, he brushed it aside.

Many people thought of Pansy as an annoying parasite, who clutched onto Draco, wanting him to love her. But that wasn't the case, they had been childhood friends, along with Blaise, since they could walk. She was just like an warm little sister. One of the few things he had never had.

----------------

At last, seven o'clock had arrived. Draco threw on his travelling coat, and apparated to the destined spot. Seeing Pansy there, he instantly grinned.

"Hey," he said coming over to kiss her on the cheek.

"Hey Dray," she said, watching him wince as she called him the nickname. It so happened to be that he hated it too, which was all the more reason, to her, to use it. "Who's the person you met?"

"Granger." Draco said, before leading her into the restaurant, and grabbing their normal place.

"Really? The mudblood?" Pansy exclaimed, "I mean – the … well …"

"Yes," Draco laughed, "The same Hermione Granger, but you know we don't like that word anymore." He reproved.

"Sorry," Pansy said, "I guess old habits die hard."

"You wanted to talk to me about something important?" Draco prodded, before winking at the flirty waitress.

Pansy rolled her eyes, "Yes I did, but do you mind? You could at least stop flirting with that slut."

Draco coughed, "Look who's talking."

"Hey, that's not true." Pansy insisted, "And you know it."

Draco arched an eyebrow. "You were saying…"

"Yes," Pansy said hurriedly, "Well, father's been going on for ages about marriage, and well, I can't possibly think of anyone that I could, you know, be with."

Draco arched his eyebrow again. "I see…"

"No you don't." she exclaimed exasperatedly, "He's getting paranoid and calling me only. I'm only 21 and he's calling me old."

Draco laughed in amusement, watching her getting riled up. "Calm down Parkinson."

"Yeah yeah," she muttered, "But I was thinking, why don't we get married?"

Draco choked on his drink and spat it out again. "What!"

**I only thought of this story in a flash and just had to write it. Hope you all like it. If in later chapters, you feel I'm rushing through certain romances, that may be because the story isn't about getting the couples together exactly…**

**softlove**

**Don't forget to review! **


	2. Another Encounter

Last Chapter –

"No you don't." she exclaimed exasperatedly, "He's getting paranoid and calling me only. I'm only 21 and he's calling me old."

Draco laughed in amusement, watching her getting riled up. "Calm down Parkinson."

"Yeah yeah," she muttered, "But I was thinking, why don't we get married?"

Draco choked on his drink and spat it out again. "What!"

88888

Chapter 2 – _Another Encounter_

Hermione was at her flat with Felicity and was patiently waiting for her cousin to arrive. Looking at her watch, seeing the seconds tick by, she finally heard the bell go.

Hermione leapt from her chair, and yelled, "I'll get it" to no particular person. Running towards the door, she opened it to find Ginny. "Oh," she said unhappily, "It's you."

Ginny laughed amusedly, "That's no reception is it?"

"Sorry Ginny," Hermione said, "I'm just waiting for Josh to come."

"Yeah I know," Ginny grinned, "Why else would I be here?"

Hermione laughed, ushering Ginny towards the lounge room. Flick and her had met before, but weren't exactly buddy buddies. She also knew that Ginny was a little fragile, even though Harry was helping her get over the death of her brother. Ginny tried to stay away from the Weasleys, though no one knew why.

Just then, the doorbell rang for the second time that evening. Hermione jumped up once again, spilling pumpkin juice all over her.

"Drat!" she cursed, "Flick can you answer that? I'm going to go mop up." So she left, muttering curses under her breath. While she was frantically wiping at her skirt, she heard some squeals and coos. "Yep," she mumbled, "Josh is here."

Quickly straightening up, she ran back into the lounge and found Ginny, Flick and her Aunty Gwen. Hermione laughed to herself, Gwen was a witch, but her uncle wasn't. It was quite complicated to her, but she didn't mind, as long as she could see Josh as much as she wanted.

Gwen looked famished, as she flopped onto the couch.

"Been busy keeping you up all night has he?" Hermione asked, grinning as the baby grabbed her pinky.

Gwen sighed, "Yeah, he's a real handful isn't he?" At that moment, Ginny let out a coo laughing with the baby as she played with him.

"No, he's gorgeous," Ginny said, twirling him around. Felicity stayed back a little, she wasn't as keen with babies like Hermione and Ginny. She didn't want to have kids herself, much unlike her two friends.

88888

Back at the restaurant where Draco and Pansy were in, Draco had momentarily frozen.

"Are you serious?" He asked, shock in his voice, his eyes open wide. "That's – that's – well that's big Pansy."

"Yeah, I know." She said softly, "But I can't really think of anything else! Dad wants me to marry a pureblood, and quick."

"What about Blaise?" asked Draco, treading cautiously. He knew that Pansy had strong feelings for his best mate, however Blaise didn't exactly want to settle down right then.

Pansy shrugged, "What about him? He's quite clearly shown me where I stand in his life, and I deserve more than that. I don't want to be the person that's madly in love, while the other uses it to their advantage."

Draco felt a tinge of annoyance; Blaise was his best mate after all. "He's not like that Parkinson," he snapped, "He just doesn't have the same priorities as you have."

"Yeah," she muttered, "But Draco, what do you really think? Should we?"

Draco sighed, "You know I'd love to help, but this is just way to out there for me."

"Out there?" repeated Pansy, "What does that mean? Is there someone in your life?"

At that saying, an image of Hermione instantly popped into Draco's mind. Blinking quickly, it disappeared, "No, of course there isn't. But marriage? Are you really that desperate?"

"You don't have to say things like that," snapped Pansy, "You know damned well I'm not. It's just because f -"

"Yeah, I know." Draco interrupted, "You know, if our father's weren't alive, life would be much easier."

"Including Blaise," muttered Pansy.

Draco chose not to say anything to that.

"So are you sure you don't want to tie the knot?" Pansy asked, half joking half serious.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Draco said softly, "Besides, you know you'd be unhappy marrying someone you didn't love."

"Oh I love you alright," Pansy said, laughing at the look on Draco's face. "Oh don't be an idiot. I love you, but I'm not in love with you."

"Don't scare me like that," he snapped, "You're going to make me die of a bloody heart attack."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Pansy said, ignoring Draco's last comment. "It would be hard, it'd be like an arranged marriage that we agreed to."

"That's just stupid." Draco said bluntly, "Whoever heard of that?"

88888

Back at Hermione's flat Gwen had zonked out. She was lying there sleeping on the couch, though Hermione and Ginny didn't notice. They were too busy playing with the baby. Felicity however, was watching them and did notice so she warned them to be quiet.

"Shh guys, she's sleeping." Felicity whispered, pointing towards Gwen.

"No she's not, and it's not a she, it's a he." Corrected Hermione, still engrossed with the child.

Felicity had no idea what Hermione was talking about. "What do you mean it's a he. Of course she's a she. She got pregnant didn't she?"

This time it was Ginny answered, "What are you on Felicity? He's nowhere near old enough to have a child. Besides, he's a boy! Boy's don't have children. You should know that."

It took Felicity the most of two seconds to realise they were talking about Josh.

"Not Josh you idiots," she sighed, "Gwen!"

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, "We should take Josh out for a walk then, in case he starts crying and wakes her up."

"Yeah, I'll write the note," Felicity said, grabbing a quill. "Come on, before we wake her up."

Giving the baby it's bottle and putting it in it's special pram, they got set to go out. They were walking along, enjoying their time, chit chatting and laughing. Stopping occasionally to window shop and have a look inside. Hermione was pushing the pram but let go for one second, to turn around.

In that split set of a second, someone came out of nowhere, grabbed the pram and dashed down the street. In the next split set of a second, Hermione turned around and noticed the pram was gone. She screamed out in alarm and saw the alleged kidnapper sprinting down the straight road.

All three of them letting out sounds of rage, they started to sprint down the street. Felicity being the fastest of the lot gained the most ground on the man. She saw him turn around once and she caught a glimpse of his face. However, she didn't recognise him, nor would she again if she did see him in life.

They passed a string of cafés, with people sitting down chatting blindly, not noticing that some mad man was sprinting down the path with a baby that had started to cry at the speed of what it was travelling. Crying in shock or crying in excitement, it wouldn't shut up.

Felicity yelled "HELP" hoping someone would snap out of their blindness and notice that she was chasing this idiot and finally, her wish was answered.

A familiar blonde man, hopped out of his seat and grabbed the man, tripping him up. But before anyone could see his face, he disapparated with a CRACK.

"Thank you so much!" Gasped Felicity, clutching her side, while Hermione and Ginny appeared at her elbow.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Hermione, "Thank you -" As she looked up to see the rescuer's face, she stopped. It was Draco Malfoy! "Thank you." She stuttered again, frozen on her way to pick up Josh.

It was a funny scene to Flick and Ginny. Draco was standing there froze, staring at Hermione like she was some alien, as if they weren't supposed to see each other again so quickly. And Hermione's hands were in a position to pick up Josh, but they were frozen half way and she was just staring.

Flick coughed loudly, while Ginny picked up the crying baby. "Ahem" However, they were still frozen still.

"Um guys?" was Ginny's attempt. But they weren't frozen out of their stupor until…

"What's going on?" shrieked Pansy Parkinson, jumping down. Instantly, Draco and Hermione could move again. It was like magic (A/N lol) "Draco?"

"Yes?" he asked quickly, turning to face her, while Hermione took Josh from Ginny's arms.

"It's alright," she said softly, rocking the baby, his cries stifling. Just then, Aunty Gwen apparated with a crack.

"What happened?" she asked, taking Josh. "Shh, it's alright," she soothed.

"Well it started -"

"We were going -"

"I chased the -"

"Some mad man -"

Started the four adults. Hermione, Ginny, Flick and Draco all started at once.

"One at a time, one at a time." Gwen said over them, "I came looking, and I know you normally walk down this stretch since Felicity left the letter. Why are we standing here in the middle of the path?"

"Some guy stole Josh." Muttered Ginny, while Hermione and Gwen let out a gasp, but both for different reason.

"What!" she exclaimed, "How?"

Hermione blushed, "I only turned around for a second -"

"A second is all it takes," interrupted Gwen, giving Hermione a stern look. "Young lady, I trusted you."

"I'm sorry," muttered Hermione, "I never meant for this to happen."

"Of course you didn't." Gwen said, smiling slightly. "Doesn't matter, Josh is safe. Now, who are you young man?" she asked, looking at Draco.

"I'm Draco Malfoy, nice to meet you," he said politely, "And this is my friend, Pansy Parkinson." He added, gesturing towards Pansy.

"Aah, the Malfoy's and Parkinson's I see." Gwen said, smiling slightly. "I know a lot about you two families,"

Draco and Pansy started to look uncomfortable for a second before Felicity broke in. "You know, Draco saved Josh's life. He stopped the kidnapper."

"You did, did you?" Gwen asked, obviously surprised. "I don't know how to express my gratitude."

"It's ok," muttered Draco, "No problem at all."

At that moment, Felicity gave Aunt Gwen a look. She looked subtly at Draco, and then subtly at Hermione. Ginny noticed and smirked at Hermione who gave her a confused look.

Gwen understood Felicity but looked at Pansy, but Felicity shrugged her shoulders.

"I know," exclaimed Gwen, "How about you come over for a lovely dinner at my house tomorrow night, so I can express my appreciation. Hermione will also be present as well as Felicity and Ginny. Miss Parkinson may come too."

"Oh," Draco said, his eyes widening, "Um -"

"He'd love to come," Pansy said, talking over the top of him. "I would too, however I'm busy. Maybe some other time?"

"Sure," Aunty Gwen said, smiling at the girl taking an instant liking.

"Oh, I'm busy tomorrow night, sorry." Felicity said, slightly obviously. When Ginny didn't say anything, she stamped on her foot.

"Ow! And I'm busy too," Ginny said, "Going on a date…"

"With Harry?" asked Hermione, forgetting for a second that her friends had just deserted her.

When Ginny nodded, a split second look of loathing flashed across Draco's face, before he took it off again. _What's wrong with you? It's the past. _

_But just because you've decided to accept mudbloods – muggleborns – doesn't mean you have to like Saint Potter. _

_Shut up!_

"So I guess it's just Hermione, you and me." Aunty Gwen said, the wheels in her brain in full motion.

**I think this chapter is very late. I'm so sorry but I've been awfully busy! Really REALLY busy. Hope you all like it and DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW. **

**Special thanks to ****padmealejandra**** who gave me a couple of ideas! **


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